Connections has earned a loyal fan base since it was released by The New York Times on June 12, 2023.

Today, the word-based brainteaser has become one of the publication’s most-popular games. Similar to Wordle, another of the newspaper’s hit puzzles that took the world by storm during the COVID-19 pandemic, Connections has a dedicated set of players hoping to work out the daily challenge.

NYT puzzle editor Wyna Liu was tasked with coming up with the Connections games and told Newsweek last year that the reaction to the global phenomenon “has been really incredible and overwhelming and unexpected.”

“It’s exciting that something I care very deeply about is resonating with people,” Liu said.

If you are having a tough time with Connections #626, keep scrolling for Newsweek‘s top tips and answers.

How To Play ‘Connections’

The rules of the game are quite simple: Players must separate a set of 16 words into four categories based on common characteristics. Each of these categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, then blue, then purple.

For example, Tuesday’s puzzle linked the words “beaucoup,” “molto,” “mucho,” and “multi” under the green category: “‘Many’ in different languages.”

You will know if you got the category correct because your selections will flash in their category color and will be removed from the board. If your selections are incorrect, though, they will remain on the board.

You are welcome to mull over the answers for as long as you’d like, as there is no time limit in Connections; however, players get only four tries before the answers will be revealed.

‘Connections’ #626 Hints and Clues for Wednesday, February 26

Below are Newsweek‘s hints to help you with Wednesday’s game:

Yellow: Words relating to money

Green: Something that happened previously

Blue: Straight lines

Purple: The Simpsons names with one letter difference

‘Connections’ #626 Answers for Wednesday, February 26

Yellow Category: EXPENDITURE

Yellow Words: Charge, Cost, Price, Rate

Green Category: ONETIME

Green Words: Former, Late, Past, Prior

Blue Category: MADE WITH HORIZONTAL LINES

Blue Words: Dash, Hyphen, Minus, Underscore

Purple Category: SIMPSON FAMILY MEMBERS WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED

Purple Words: Baggie, Barge, Comer, Pisa

Excellent work if you solved today’s puzzle, especially the purple category—which was particularly tricky. That being said, don’t be too hard on yourself if you didn’t get it this time. You’ll get another chance on Thursday when a new game will be available for you to try.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek each day for more helpful hints and answers.

Eager for the next Connections to be released? Try conquering these other popular word games.